Greek uncertainty shakes stock markets

NEW YORK - Fear that Greece could default and abandon the euro is rattling global financial markets.

News that negotiations between Greece and its international lenders are making little progress sent European stock markets down sharply Friday, and the selling spread across the Atlantic. By the close of U.S. trading, stocks across industries were lower, with four of five stocks down. Investors shifted money into German government bonds, a perceived haven in troubled times.

In the United States, disappointing first-quarter financial results from several big companies fed the selling.

For all the turmoil in the markets, major U.S. stock indexes closed the day with relatively modest losses. At one point, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 357, heading for its worst day in six months. The Dow regained some of those losses toward the close of trading, ending down 279.47 to 17,826.30, a drop of 1.54 percent.

That was the worst drop since March 25. The Dow has struggled since reaching a record high on March 2 and is now back where it started the year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 23.81 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,081.18. The Nasdaq composite fell 75.98 points, or 1.52 percent, to 4,931.81.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 97 cents to close at $55.74 a barrel in New York. U.S. crude finished up 8 percent for the week, however. Brent crude fell 53 cents to close at $63.45 a barrel in London.

Precious and industrial metals futures didn't move much. Gold rose $5.10 to $1,203.10 an ounce, silver fell six cents to $16.23 an ounce and copper was unchanged at $2.77 a pound.